Although this blog is primarily about my work in cybercrime, I thought it would be nice to let you get a peek at the life of a writer, my likes and dislikes, my trips, my family and friends, and more.

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Hotlanta

So, the dinner was a buffet, but with filet mignon and other goodies. After dinner was entertainment from an improv group called Laughing Matters. If you've ever watched "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" on TV, they are like that. They pulled people out from the audience to do skits and things and it was hilarious.

And yes, they pulled me up there. It was a bit where I was to go out in the hallway with one of the comedians, Jamie Moore, while the audience gave the other three comedians a location, occupation and thing. Now, what I had to do was go in after Jamie and he was to communicate to me in pantomime and gibberish what they were. It's harder than it looks on TV, folks. Trust me.

I was stymied a few times, but did the best I could and guessed a gay lumberjack under a spell. Then we went through each one. I got Florida, guessed Orlando and it was Tampa Bay. The lumberjack I got right. The last, where Jamie kept miming a witch, which I said, was a salamander. Try and mime that one!

We went back to the hotel and hung out in the bar and laughed our butts off. I had such a great time with everyone!

The next morning I hit the treadmill, then showered, dressed and took the MARTA train to the center of town at Five Points and headed to Underground Atlanta. From their site:

"1920 - 1929: The Viaducts Create a “City Beneath the Streets”

As the new century took off, Atlanta began to take on a new look. Following the Chicago School of architecture, multi-story "skyscraper" office buildings cropped-up in the downtown area, and the city became a business and retail center. In the 1920's, construction of concrete "viaducts" elevated the streets of downtown one level above the railroad tracks to facilitate traffic flow. Merchants moved their operations to the second floor, leaving the old storefronts for storage and service. These viaducts would create the unique cityscape that would later become Underground Atlanta."

There are a lot of stores and restaurants under there, very cool! I'll be posting photos later today or tomorrow.

Next was a nice walk to the Hard Rock Cafe (which opened on my birthday in 1992!). Had a nice, leisurely lunch, and discovered in the shop that they have a membership club called All Access. I joined!

Walked back to Underground Atlanta, passing four mounted police in a park and went to the World of Coca-Cola. It's a three-story building filled with enough Coca-Cola info to make you burst! Photos to come soon.

Went back to the hotel, changed and waited for everyone else to get done with the conference to go to the Georgia Aquarium. We had a fun, long ride there, got out, went through security (are they afraid we'll steal an otter?), had wristbands put on, then had the run of most of the place until 7:30 pm. The place closes to the public at 6 pm, so there were two other groups besides us hustling around to see what we could.

My gripes:

1) Give us more time to wander and be able to see the fishies without rushing

2) Have all the exhibits/shows open. There was a 3D film a lot of us wanted to see and it was closed

3) Leave the gift shop open, people! I was all set to buy a bunch of souvenirs and they closed up at 6:30 pm. I ended up buying my souvenirs elsewhere

It was another buffet dinner, but the food was done by Wolfgang Puck's chefs. One thing I learned: Never, ever eat a fish dish at an aquarium.

I tried the lobster/shrimp with newburg sauce and it tasted okay (but honestly, I've had better). The pasta was good, as was the yakisoba and fried rice. An oriental salad was horrible and had what appeared to be a piece of plastic in it that almost broke one of my teeth.

I had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner (but their glass size is half a normal wine glass, so it was really only one). Felt great. On the bus on the way home, Rudy, who is a wiseass, but really funny guy, sang to us (he's a "rat pack" singer when he's not working for Cox). My friend Jeannie and I ran up to my room to grab some books for last minute sales, then went back to the bar and had a good time. I had one glass of wine.

I begged off after that, saying I needed to pack. I went to my room and I swear, not three steps in the door, I was in the bathroom, barfing my brains out. Even Chris teased me that I should have known not to have the darned fish.

I was up and down most of the night with diahrrea, even though I took an Airborne (I swear by this stuff on my trips). I woke up early and thought I could sweat it off on the treadmill. Didn't work.

Packed, met Rudy in the lobby and we shared a sedan to the airport. He hadn't had the fish dish, so I don't know if anyone else got sick or if it was just me. We got to the airport way early, so we bought some souvenirs (he was flying on the same airline, Delta, but a different flight at about the same time). We ate at TGIFriday's. I tried two hamburger patties with a salad and managed to eat almost one burger patty before calling it quits.

We visited some of the other stores, then parted ways. I called my mom and halfway through the conversation told her I had to go. I just made it to the bathroom. Oh boy.

I had a ginger ale on the flight. Got a real limo driver when I got into Boston (ha ha). Got home, had some crackers and hot chai green tea, then went to bed.

I was sick all day yesterday and could barely eat some rice for dinner.

I did have something good happen yesterday, which I will post tomorrow.

About Me

I'm a cyber crime expert and author of 8 books, soon to be 9! Although writing is my passion, cyber crime pays the bills. I give online safety lectures worldwide to students from 4th grade on up through college/university, as well as providing law enforcement training and speaking at various conferences as keynote.